Spiral
by deliqueena
Summary: Allecca must prove herself to seal her fate. Based on Jacob's Ladder by Brian Keaney with Alice in Wonderland influences
1. Chapter 1

Allecca felt the wrongness in the air when she stepped out of her bed onto the cold, unforgiving hospital floor. It seemed to sizzle with and unusual energy, and through her feet she could feel a thrumming beat, like a stereo turned up too loud. Curious, Allecca followed the sizzling beat down the hallway to the visitor's room. Allecca had been here only once before, when her father had told her he would not be returning. It was not a happy place. But Allecca's curiosity won out over her memories, and she opened the door to find an unearthly glow. In the middle of the floor, there was now a gaping, glowing, sizzling hole. Its transient energy drew her closer, ever nearer to the wide-mouthed gap. As she approached, Allecca saw the beginnings of a great spiral, its clockwise turns slanted into the abyss. Utterly unable to resist, Allecca was pulled towards the spirals mouth by unseen forces that whispered to her in strange languages and many voices. "Come with us," they seemed to say. "We are so looking forward to making your acquaintance." Now terrified, Allecca tried to break from the mystical pull of the power radiating through the room, but her will now belonged to the pull and the voices. She had no control as she, with one final tug, slipped down into the embrace of the downwards spiral leading into the unknown.


	2. Chapter 2

Allecca woke disorientated. She knew not where she lay, but only that it was white and fluffy. It felt like what Allecca had imagined a cloud would feel like, if it weren't full of water. Slowly getting to her feet, Allecca looked around at her new surroundings. In every direction, whiteness prevailed. Her earlier idea of lying amongst clouds seemed not so far fetched now, as she saw that it did indeed appear to be cloudlike. But unlike a cloud, it left Allecca sticky, and no amount of wiping would remove the residue of white sap all down her body. Shrugging, Allecca began to wander through her new surroundings. Everywhere she went, the clouds looked the same, so much so that Allecca was no longer sure she was moving at all. She stopped for a moment, unwilling to continue what she believed to be a fruitless journey.

But after a while, she gathered her strength and opened her eyes, only to find a spiral staircase, very similar to the one which had caught her in her fall into the abyss. The hospital seemed so very far away now, a distant memory from long ago. This made Allecca wonder how long she had been gone, but the hospital had taken her watch long ago. The only thing she could do was step onto the staircase, only to have it stutter into upwards motion. As it spiralled upwards, Allecca heard a booming voice address her.

"Allecca, you have done well. Your strength of will and courage of perseverance have enabled you to do what many others have not been able to- sacrifice their comfort for their goals. You wanted to be back home. But alas, I am unable to fulfil your desire at this moment. Your other trials await." And as the voice died away, Allecca realised she was standing in her old hospital room again. Confused and frightened, Allecca stepped out into the hallway, where she would normally be able to find a nurse. But the corridors were empty, and there was a horrible, haunting cry echoing around her. Now more than a little frightened, Allecca tiptoed through the darkened halls, following the plaintive howls. At last, she found a room with an open door, and she could hear the cries for help issuing from within the doorway. Bracing herself, Allecca entered the room to find a scene she had never thought to imagine.


	3. Chapter 3

A small child sat upon the bed. Its pitiful mews were becoming softer now, as if it hadn't the strength to continue. Underneath its small blanket, its hands and feet looked somewhat odd to Allecca's eyes, as if in odd disproportion to its body and limbs. But as she approached the small child, it held its arms out to her, and she could see now what was wrong.

The child had no hands, but instead the paws of a kitten. Looking down, Allecca saw that its feet, too, were feline, and also his features. His eyes were a vivid green, and his ears were tipped with a point and covered in grey fur. When Allecca reached down to embrace him, she discovered a small, twitchy tail. Shocked and horrified at the child' s condition, Allecca picked him up, and was carrying him to the door against her chest when he hissed and extended his claws into her face, scratching fiercely and biting her veins. Holding back screams, Allecca backed towards the bed while struggling to remain upright under the boy's attack. But no matter the pain Allecca could not bring herself to tear him from her. He seemed so malnourished and uncared for that if she could help him by sacrificing herself, she would gladly give herself to him.

As soon as she thought those words, however, the boy stopped feeding from her. He retracted his claws and licked her wounds clean, purring all the while. Allecca still dared not move, until she saw the spiral staircase positioned in the corner of the room, where there had not been anything before. The cat-boy saw this, and nudged Allecca from the bed and into the corner, where, after one last lick, he vanished.

Weary now, Allecca stepped again onto the staircase, and as it again spiralled upwards, the booming voice returned.

"Well done, Allecca, child. Very few have the strength and courage to sacrifice themselves for another, especially one so strange. But you have one more trial to face, child. Make wise choices." And with that, the voice echoed away, and Allecca was once again alone in a dark room.


	4. Chapter 4

As her eyes adjusted, Allecca could see that it was a different room than before. Not sure whether she recognised it correctly, Allecca found the light switch and gasped in shocked surprise. It was her old room! Allecca breathed in the scent of home, a woody musk mixed with her mother's perfume. Her mother! Allecca opened the door in a rush, hoping to see the familiar hallway outside. Instead, there was nothing. Emptiness, with no beginning and no end. Allecca shut the door again, hope draining away. She turned around to her bed, but now in its place was her father.

"Hello, Allecca. I've missed you. I've waited for you for so long. Come back with me? You'll be safe this time. Your mother will be disappointed if you refuse." His voice was thick with honey-like sweetness, but even though Allecca knew his promises meant nothing, she wanted so much to believe them, for everything to be how it had been. She took one step towards him, then another, ever so slowly, but she knew she must resist his pleas. He had hurt her, destroyed her mother, and now she would not allow him to do so again. She stepped back with conviction. "No." Allecca had never before had the courage to stand up to him, to refuse his horrible demands. But now she could assert herself, and it felt wonderful. She said it again, stronger this time, filled with joy. "NO!" And she turned from him and flung herself into the nothingness outside her door, free at last from her long-held fears.

Allecca opened her eyes to a beautiful sound. It rang through her very being, and soon it was joined by the booming voice again. "Well done, Allecca. You have been freed. I am so very proud." And it died away, for good this time. Allecca smiled to herself. Whatever happened to her from now on, she was free. Looking again around her, she saw something wonderful, something she had never expected. The woman by the river turned, her long golden hair flowing freely for the first time in a long time. "Mama!"


End file.
